Basteala Thayne
"Orders are important--and the battlefield is no place for a town hall debate--but your vows and your morals are the most important authority here. Remember that." ''--Basteala Thayne'' Basteala Thayne is a knight-lieutenant in the Legion of the Dawn, the Dawn's chief recruiting officer, and the former commander of the now defunct Lordless Blades. She is a relative neophyte in the duties of the paladin, and is constantly learning about the Light, and herself by doing so. She is driven by the desire to keep her friends and loved ones safe at nearly any cost, and the more buried desire to make sure her peers do not fall into the same mistakes she made in years past. Physical Description Basteala stands at 5'10" and weighs around 165 pounds. She enjoys an athletic build, strong, but still undeniably female, even within her armor. Dark red hair frames a gently angled face, and two amber eyes that can switch between playful and intense in an instant. She wears a suit of blessed truesteel, cleaned to a mirror polish. Several holy runes frame the armor, particularly on the pauldrons, waist, and gauntlets--giving each the illusion of holy glow. On the right side of her breastplate was support for a lance, while a bastard sword was slung at her hip. A dagger rested on her opposite side. A large cloak completes the ensemble, black and bearing the gold wings of the Legion of the Dawn. Those that look closely might notice a small scar that ran along the side of her neck, telling the tale of one close call in battle. Another may notice a strange glow of the Light within her right gauntlet--one that did not seem to come from her armor. Personality Basteala behaves very differently depending on whether she is wearing the Dawn's uniform or not. In uniform, she is dedicated, dutiful, and fights with an obsession to keep her people safe. Off the field she's playful, flirtatious, with a roguish charm about her. All this is united by a stubborn nature, a competitive attitude, and a deep love for her friends and those she considers family. History Early Life "I wasn't born a paladin, you know." '' ''-- Basteala Thayne Basteala was born in the kingdom of Stromgarde a little before the Second War. She was the only daughter of Knight-Captain Raven Thayne, and grew up under the tutelage of Sir Ector Thomas. She served in the Third War as one of many squires, and eager to become the youngest knight in the history of Stromgarde. Her skill with a blade was worthy of such a goal, but her attitude got her into several bouts of trouble and earned many scoldings from the older knight. Despite her ambitions, the near collapse of Stromgarde's society would deny her any such place in knighthood. She would instead serve as a young officer leading other Arathi footmen. She served faithfully in defending what little territory the kingdom had left from the aggression of the Syndicate and the Boulderfist Ogres. When the Alliance declared their campaign against the Scourge in the frozen land of Northrend, Bastaela was one of many soldiers in the Alliance to volunteer her services. Little would be heard of her after the campaign on Northrend and the near utter collapse of Stromgarde, until the war against the Iron Horde. Now the once would-be-knight was a sellsword, a brutal fighter with a reputation for a sharp blade, sharp wit, and a violent temper. She fought in notable areas such as the defense of Karabor, the liberation of Shatt'rath, and both campaigns in Tanaan Jungle. However, during the second campaign, the mercenary would terminate her contract for reasons she refused to discuss. The Lordless Blades "We're going to do this right. Most mercenaries are thugs and hired murderers posing as soldiers. We'll be different. Oh, we'll sell to the highest bidder, but the people we face will have weapons in their hands, not children in their arms. Is that understood?" ''--Basteala Thayne'' At the end of the Draenor campaign and into the early days of the Legion invasion, Basteala Thayne had found a new outlook in life, with a new goal in mind. While she valued her freedom too much to sign on with the Alliance Military, memories of her last campaign on Draenor made her hesitate to sign on alone to just any Alliance contract. The sellsword decided to use the business savvy she learned as a mercenary and the public speaking skills and etiquette she picked up from her knightly training to organize a company of mercenaries under the idea of serving the Alliance as a privatized fighting force. The war against the Burning Legion was the perfect environment for such an ambition, as the losses on the Broken Shore hastened the need for fighters in every stage of the conflict, from rear guard duties to the front lines on the Broken Isles. The company grew in both reputation and size, numbering over a hundred full time fighters, with various support crews, tradesmen, and allies that helped fuel Basteala's business. Basteala herself would take more dangerous contracts on her own or in small teams as her company first began with inexperienced fighters, but by the end of the war, these mercenaries were hardened enough to earn a place in the first wave of troops hitting the doomed world of Argus. A New Dawn "I don't agree with this war. Not any more. I hate the Horde, as much, ''more ''than the next guy. But take a look around! Brothers in the Light kill one another, shamans that could heal Azeroth instead massacre her children, heroes brought together against a terrible foe now murder each other better than the Burning Legion ever could! This is a war where none of us will be victors! In this war, we're all destined to lose. ''--Basteala Thayne'' She had wanted this war. Basteala Thayne had prepared for it, trained for it, hired others to help fight it. In the closing days of the battle against the Legion, she had primed herself and her people for another bloody war with little thought of the consequences. Overconfidence, reckless ambition, and a burning desire to avenge the losses of her people at the hands of the Horde now and past yielded one simple fruit: the complete destruction of her company, and the loss of her best friend. Loss, grief, and guilt left Basteala shell-shocked. She distanced herself, and wandered several battlefields. There she hoped to do the most good for the Alliance, there she hoped to find some measure of purpose again. There she fought feverishly, desperate to keep others from dying, willing to throw her own life away to keep it from happening. It did little help, however. In many instances, she would enter a desperate, bloody battle, and remain standing, while her peers did not. These feelings came to a head when she found herself in Stromgarde, protecting a priest from a san'layn assassin. The dark magics the assassin used were strong, and left Bast bound and unable to resist while they moved to finish the priest, a man rallying so many in the Arathi kingdom. Desperation, self sacrifice, and a humility borne of a desire to keep others alive, regardless of the cost, led Basteala to shout to the heavens, begging for help. The Light answered. The awakening of the Light inside her had left Basteala confused, and uncertain. Not once had she ever expected to hear the paladin's call, and less did she know what to do with it. The only thing she knew with certainty was a pull she felt to Stormwind, an insistent feeling she did not hear, yet could put into words. "Find those that bring light to the darkest places of the world. Find Anna Nightwind." Quotes "Name's Basteala: mercenary, businesswoman, stubborn bitch." -- Basteala Thayne "Everyone wants something, and everyone has a price." -- Basteala Thayne "I think one of the biggest mistakes we can make is forgetting that justice is a tool to protect the innocent first, and a weapon to punish the guilty last." -- Basteala Thayne "The Light is not a tool for massacre, nor is it the executioner's axe. I've killed. I'm good at killing, and I've never needed the Light to help me with that. To me, the Light is a shield for the weak, it's a balm for the injured, and most importantly, it's salvation for the broken soul." -- Basteala Thayne "The first paladins were taught by the priests to be honest protectors of the people. Now the paladins teach their own successors, each passing on their power, their tenacity, their hunger for righteousness...but for all they're grown, they've failed to pass on the most important gift from the priests: their compassion. And its turned these heroes into monsters. Into cold executioners driven only by a cause they no longer understand." --- Basteala Thayne External Links Basteala's Armory Page Category:Characters Category:Alliance Paladin Category:Human